During the committee's examination of the department's 2001-2002 main estimates with the Minister and his staff, committee members uncovered an extraordinary fund that had been built into the department's directorate activity. The department rationalized that the funds are there for emergencies and that if there were no emergencies, the funds would be reallocated elsewhere in the department for other programs and services. However, the committee informed the Minister and his department that emergency funds are usually procured through the supplementary appropriation process. Further, such as in the case of Fort McPherson last summer when there was a water treatment crisis, the department replied that it did not have any funding to resolve the situation.